Samantha Lopez, (Morton East class of 2024) was among students recently awarded scholarships from the Illinois Restaurant Association Education Foundation (IRAEF) to pursue post-secondary education programs in culinary or hospitality.
100 students, teachers, donors, and industry mentors turned out at Tunnel in Chicago on July 13 to celebrate 48 deserving students in receiving a total of $115,000 in scholarships from the IRAEF. Samantha was awarded a $2,000 scholarship. She will be a freshman at Kendall College at NLU this fall, pursuing her AAS in Culinary Arts.
“Samantha was part of the Morton East ProStart team for the State Invitational last March, where they placed 4th. Sam was an instrumental part of the team in her 3 years enrolled in culinary arts, helping run events and taking the lead in the lab,” said culinary arts teacher Mr. Yves Chambaz.
